Starbucks has agreed to pay approximately $35 million to over 15,000 New York City workers to settle claims related to unstable schedules and arbitrary hour cuts. The company will also pay $3.4 million in civil penalties and must comply with the city’s Fair Workweek law moving forward. Investigations, launched in 2022 due to numerous worker complaints, revealed that most employees faced irregular schedules and reduced hours, hindering their ability to plan. This settlement also includes reinstatement opportunities for employees laid off during recent store closures.
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In a significant development stemming from the controversial August 2023 raid on the Marion County Record, Marion County has agreed to pay over $3 million and issue an apology. The settlement, which involved federal lawsuits filed by the newspaper’s parent company, employees, and others, aims to discourage similar actions against news organizations. The raid, led by the former police chief, sparked national debate on press freedom, and the county sheriff issued an apology. Legal claims against the city and city officials remain unresolved, and the former police chief is set for trial in February on related charges.
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SpaceX and Cards Against Humanity reached a settlement in a lawsuit concerning land owned by the party game company in Texas. The lawsuit alleged that SpaceX trespassed on the property by placing construction materials and debris there without permission. While the terms of the settlement remain undisclosed, Cards Against Humanity confirmed that SpaceX admitted to trespassing and has since removed its equipment. The company had hoped to use settlement funds to pay back donors who contributed to the land purchase.
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Tyson Foods will pay $85 million to settle a consumer lawsuit accusing the company of conspiring with competitors to inflate pork prices. This settlement, which is the largest in over seven years of antitrust litigation, will bring consumers’ total recovery to $208 million. The preliminary agreement requires court approval and marks Tyson as the last publicly traded company to settle in the case. The alleged price-fixing conspiracy, involving multiple companies, reportedly occurred from 2009 to 2018.
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YouTube, owned by Google, has agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump after his account was suspended following the January 6, 2021 attacks. The settlement allocates $22 million to the Trust for the National Mall and a White House ballroom construction, with the remainder going to other parties. This settlement follows similar agreements with Meta and X, making Google the third major tech company to settle lawsuits related to Trump’s post-presidency actions. Legal experts previously predicted these cases would be difficult to win. The settlement, which does not admit liability, came before a scheduled court hearing and barely impacts Alphabet’s significant market value.
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Rudy Giuliani has reached a settlement with Dominion Voting Systems in its $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit, with both parties agreeing to dismiss the suit permanently. The terms of the settlement remain confidential, but the lawsuit stemmed from Giuliani’s false claims about Dominion’s role in rigging the 2020 election. The former New York City mayor faced legal challenges after leading former President Donald Trump’s efforts to discredit the election results. This settlement follows other significant agreements Dominion has reached with Fox News and Newsmax, and further compounds a series of legal and financial difficulties Giuliani has faced.
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Boeing settles lawsuit on wrongful death claim related to deceased whistleblower, and the settlement amount, a minimum of $50,000, immediately raises eyebrows. It’s a sum that feels… small. A lot of us, when we hear about settlements involving a person’s death, especially a whistleblower’s, expect something far more substantial. The immediate gut reaction is: Is that all? Is that the price of silence?
Boeing settles lawsuit on wrongful death claim related to deceased whistleblower, and this prompts a complex conversation. There are whispers, the “what ifs,” and the “allegedlys” of more sinister possibilities. However, let’s stick to the facts. The whistleblower, a man who had raised concerns about Boeing, tragically died by suicide.… Continue reading
Amazon has agreed to a historic $2.5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) due to claims of tricking customers into Prime subscriptions and hindering cancellation. The settlement includes a record $1 billion civil penalty and $1.5 billion in refunds for affected Prime customers who were either unintentionally enrolled or faced difficulties in canceling. The FTC alleged that Amazon violated the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act, making it difficult for consumers to understand and manage their subscriptions, a process internally referred to as “Iliad”. The FTC began its investigation in 2021, eventually leading to the lawsuit and settlement, which occurred before a separate antitrust case was filed against the company.
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Anthropic has agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by authors who alleged the company used pirated copies of their works to train its AI chatbot, Claude. The settlement, which could be approved as early as Monday, covers approximately 500,000 books, with authors or publishers receiving around $3,000 per book. A federal judge previously found that while training AI on copyrighted books wasn’t illegal, Anthropic had wrongfully acquired millions of books through pirate websites. This landmark settlement sends a message to the AI industry regarding the consequences of using authors’ works to train AI.
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Newsmax has agreed to a $67 million settlement in a defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems, following similar settlements by Fox News Channel and Smartmatic. The court had previously ruled that Newsmax defamed Dominion by spreading false information about its voting equipment. This settlement was reached before a trial could take place, which was revealed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Internal communications from Newsmax demonstrated that the network knew the claims of election fraud were baseless, yet it continued to air them.
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John Q. Hosedrinker 
Matt Underwood